𝕾𝖊𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖑 𝖙𝖔 𝕱𝖆𝖈𝖊 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖉 𝕭𝖊𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖞𝖆𝖑. 𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖉 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖘𝖙!!!

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He was no longer a wanderer. He was no longer a Harbinger. He was no longer... alone.

The male had asked the Traveller for a name, but on many accounts, he was referred to as simply "kid" or "boy". Though the titles often filled him with contempt, what could he do about it but offer a snarky comment in reply? It was better than "Hat Guy", which some people had taken a liking to calling him. Now that pissed him off to a large degree.

A tiny hand waved in front of his face and he blinked, returning from the realm of his thoughts. The small Archon smiled at him. "There you are... You aren't paying attention."

"Oh, esteemed God of Wisdom," he began, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Would you not bestow on your student mercy if he does not quite meet the intellectual level of your... Dendroness?"

Nahida laughed. "Dendroness isn't a word."

"I know that," the male ground out. "I was just—" He paused and sighed. "It seems even a puppet is more adept with human speech than a god."

Nahida's bright smile faltered slightly. "My apologies."

His mouth twitched to the side, something like guilt coursing through him. He knew Buer had tried very hard—harder than he was ever willing to—to integrate into human society and associate and share with them as much as possible. That, at least, was cause for commendation.

"Why don't we take a break, then, Hat Guy?"

His lips pulled back into a scowl. "Hat Guy? Do not start calling me that, too."

Nahida giggled. "I think it's a cute nickname. Besides, the Vahumana scholars all call you that. Why can't I?"

"I hate it."

"Isn't that normal—for people to hate their nicknames?"

The male sighed as he pushed off from the table and stood. "Let's just go and take our break..."

Nahida jumped down from her chair gracefully and nodded, following. The God of Wisdom strolled out in front of him, sharing smiles and waves with the people of Sumeru—both civilians, visitors and Akedemiya scholars alike. Passersby who seldom walked the streets of Sumeru City would never believe the two were acquaintances, the male being a stark contrast to Buer's cheerful and outgoing attitude.

Even as some brave people who had seen the puppet before attempted to wave at him, all he managed was a curt nod at best—at worst, a glower and obscene gesture. Nahida had pulled him up on it before and offered what social advice she could—to which he did not listen. Why should he care for humans—

He paused. Something... someone at the corner of his eye...

"Hat Guy?" The male turned to the small god who waited a few paces away. "Why do you stop?" She smiled. "Something caught your eye? Be it a vendor's stock, I can procure some for you."

He shook his head and made his way back to Nahida's side. "It's... nothing. I just thought I saw someone I recognised."

"Oh? A friend, perchance?"

"Doubtful—I have none." He said those words so easily—in a tone that suggested he didn't care that he had spoken them. But something tugged at him. The sight he wasn't sure he had seen seemed to have... awoken something within him.

Nahida angled her head slightly to see better beneath the brim of his hat, looking for telltale signs in his expression. She likely noticed the change—what change it was, he couldn't tell.

"Let us continue our walk, Hat Guy," Buer said, hand outstretched in invitation. She wanted him to... hold her hand? Did she really believe herself to have such motherly authority over him? He only scoffed at her hand and continued the stroll forwards—albeit in a mildly more tensed manner.

Nahida watched him with a slight frown, but he knew she was used to his... antics. She would be fine. He, on the other hand... Well, he was growing quite tired of people pretending to see the good within him—see a friend. An acquaintance, maybe—though becoming such to someone was a thought that seldom crossed his mind. Nahida and the Traveller would be the closest beings he could call acquaintances, but friends? He almost scoffed at the thought.

The two continued their supposedly leisurely walk down Treasure Street, though he knew Nahida could feel the tension radiating from him. Strange... What was it that tugged at him so fiercely?

Nahida stood beside a bench and motioned for him to sit. When he refused, she beckoned again—more firmly, this time. He sighed and obliged, propping his head on a fist as he gazed at the Archon with the most uninterested expression on his face. "Well? What do you want to do now, God of Wisdom?"

"First of all, I want to know what troubles you." The puppet only blinked slowly in response. "You've been distant lately. Tired, perhaps?"

"Yes, very. Tired of all you people pretending I'm something like your best friend—because I'm not."

"Now, Hat Guy, I believe you owe me more than snide remarks like that."

"Stop acting like my mother, Buer. I have no such thing."

Nahida sighed through her nose. "Be that as it may, there is another issue." The male rolled his eyes. "One that seems to have just recently made an appearance. You saw something on the way here. It has affected you. How?"

".. That's what I want to know." Nahida stared at him for a few moments, eyes flickering to gaze all over his face as if she were reading it. Reading and listening to his thoughts, he realised. "Will you get out of there?" he snapped, waving his arm as if batting away the invisible hands that probed his mind for his thoughts.

Nahida blinked as she concluded her search. "A memory has awoken."

He hadn't the faintest clue what she was talking about. "Wha—huh? I thought you gave them all back already."

"That, I have... but it seems the possibility for you to forget still exists." A smile with something like awe in it formed on her face—as if intrigued by the phenomenon he found to be incredibly irritating. "A memory that slumbered has begun to stir. Perhaps it was triggered by what you saw earlier."

"What does that mean for me, then?"

"It all depends on what you want to do with that memory, Hat Guy."

The male groaned. "For the last time, stop calling me that!"

The god only giggled, before settling. "I think all you need is time." She inclined her head to Lambad's Tavern. "I'll go get us something to eat."

"I don't get hungry."

"Even so. You still have taste buds. It might be nice, you know." She looked up at him with a gentle expression. "Please? Stop refusing everything I offer you."

He groaned loudly in exasperation. "Do what you wish... But I am not going inside."

Nahida smiled, and with a graceful twirl of her body, she was on her way to the tavern. The male watched her enter, head resting on his hand. He sighed through his nose in a slight exhale, before casting his gaze over the rest of the bustling city.

People milled about the streets, some calm while others hasty. He could glean much about their lives just from the way they walked. Those that walked slowly were content. Those rushing were under stress, usually time-influenced. Those with strained postures worked far beyond their limits. Little signs like that. Humans were... predictable things. Interesting creatures.

He gazed down at his hand and he reflected on his life—on his past. Erased from the world but not from his mind. He supposed he wasn't much different from them, even if his heart was fake. Even if it didn't beat like theirs did. He clenched his fist.

His gaze snapped up. He saw something. Someone. That same presence that had incited this strange feeling of recognition within him. His eyes darted between the people in the crowded streets, searching. But he found no one that he recognised—

He shot to his feet as that presence became clear to him again. It was like a call—a summoning. Here I am. Here I am. Over and over again that call sounded. And the forgotten scene unfolded in his mind as he ran into the crowd, twisting and turning and watching out for the girl in his memory. No—not girl. He remembered now. It had been almost thirty years since then.

It was strange, he thought to himself, that the events had still unfolded as they did. He had removed himself from history. Scaramouche, the Balladeer, Kunikuzushi, Kabukimono—all of those names had disappeared. His life as a Fatui Harbinger was no more. For hundreds of years, he had traversed Teyvat with nothing but a title: Wanderer. And now, even that had been stripped from him. And yet fate—Irminsul—had allowed him and the girl to meet.

He supposed that someone still needed to save her. He had not approached her as anything but a wanderer in his first life, after all. A lone figure who happened to be passing by. There was little reason to erase that memory entirely. History had been rewritten, but that moment was still strong in his mind—in Irminsul. And he wondered... would the girl now turned woman even remember him?

Absorbed in the chaos of his mind, he bumped into someone and stumbled a step back. The figure turned. Here I am. His eyes widened. There was no mistake. Something caved at the sight of her—the young girl that had bloomed from a forgotten child to a promising young woman. The person who carried the face of the third betrayal. And yet... something was different. Yes, she had grown but...

He saw it then. Those eyes—those curious eyes... They did not see. Those eyes that had once been full of hope and longing and emotion... were now reduced to an unseeing grey. As if that hope had been burned away to ashes. As for what would now rise from those ashes...

"May I help you?" Her accent was thick but understandable. She had learned the language, it seemed. His mouth curved ever-so-slightly. Pride. He felt it. Understood it. His efforts had not been entirely wasted, then.

"I was just passing by," the male said and turned to leave. He had found the problem. Acknowledged it. That should've been enough. And yet the call still sounded. Here I am. Here I am. It was like someone had thrown a beacon into the night. As if she, too, was searching for someone. Here I am.

The woman reached for his hand and he halted. Turned to her with a questioning gaze that he knew she could not see. And she felt his hand. Traced her fingers down the callouses and lines. Suddenly, that call stopped. And as she slowly lifted her head back to him with those now eerie unseeing eyes, a light had found its way onto her face. "Here I am," she breathed.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"I came back," she continued, a smile growing on her tanned face. That was also a difference, for when he had first found her, she was as deathly pale as the moon. "I came back to offer my gratitude."

"You... recognise me?"

She nodded. "The sound of your voice... The feel of your hands... Hands that led me back to life." She bowed her head. "Without you, I would have died."

He sighed through his nose, free hand drifting to hover above her eyes. Around them, the city kept moving, paying no heed to the two figures standing motionless on the street, one without a heart, the other without sight. "And yet my efforts result in failure..."

"Failure?"

"It was not enough," he said, his voice heavy with guilt, "to keep you from this."

"You were only a stranger," she said with a smile. "I did not expect you, in the entirety of my life in that village, to continue shielding me from dangers. I grew up. Because of you, I had that chance. My thoughts have been on you since. For almost thirty years, the urge to find you again and thank you remained clear. I have travelled all over Sumeru and now..." She smiled. "Here I am." She angled her head in that curious manner he remembered. "I never caught your name, friend."

"It doesn't matter." The portrait of dismissive apathy. She remained still, wary and confused by his response. Of course. All people had names. If one had nothing else, one had a name. And no one could take that away. And yet... he was never given one to begin with. In his past life, he had temporary titles—all of which had been washed away as if they had never existed to begin with. No names. Nothing to hold on to but that title of Wanderer—and that, too, was now gone.

She reached for his hand again. Squeezed it. "I agree with you." Her smile faltered as she seemed to read his emotions, running her fingers across his palm. "But not for the reasons you believe are true."

He started. "How—"

She smiled softly at him. "I do not have the ability to read facial expressions and body language—so I have learned to read people without it. In many ways, it is much more effective. I may be blind... but I can still see." That smile grew softer still. "And I can see you. I do not know you as others do, but I know there is kindness in that heart." She placed a slim hand on his chest—on his heart. Whether she could tell it did not beat as others did, she did not let on. "And I know that no matter what your name means, whatever weight it holds—or even if you do not have a name at all—you will always be you. I recognise people by the feel of their hands, the sounds of their voices, the scent they carry. I do not need a name to know it is you."

The male's free hand drifted to cover hers. He did not feel a heartbeat—did not feel that tender kindness. But she did. And Buer did. And the Traveller did. And so many more. They all saw him, name or no name. And she... This woman... could see him without sight. A gentle smile graced his lips and he said, "People call me different things. The most common name these days is Hat Guy."

The young woman beamed at him. "A nickname?"

"A name nonetheless."

"Be proud of it."

"I will." He paused and inhaled as the words he had just spoken sank in. I will. I will be proud of my name. I will be proud of myself. I will see myself for who I am—flaws, gifts and all. "What... What was your name?"

The woman smiled mysteriously, her hand dropping to her side. "It was good to see you again... Hat Guy." Her eyes crinkled in mild and good-natured amusement as she said his name, before turning. No name offered. He smiled. He supposed she was right. It didn't matter.

He watched her for a few more moments as she gracefully and skillfully weaved through the crowds of people before suddenly disappearing from sight. His shoulders sagged slightly as his unlikely friend left—and the realisation that he may never see her again dawned on him. That call did not sound again. Perhaps Irminsul had saved that memory for this very reason—so that they would meet again and she would show him the way forward. Fate worked in strange ways. Perhaps that was why she also had the boy's face—so he could see who he would have been had he grown up. And so he himself, when he realised the meaning behind his actions after saving the girl, would be given closure.

The face of the third betrayal... A light huff of a chuckle left his mouth. That boy... His memory—no matter how unrelated the two were—would live on through her. Through a most interesting woman who could see more than most.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned, finding Buer floating gently to the ground. "I was wondering where you'd run off to," she said with a wary smile. She lifted up a small cardboard box lined with paper and in it... "I asked Lambad to make this for you." Unagi Chazuke. The male almost smiled. "It might not be as good as how you make it but hopefully it still tastes nice. I'm afraid neither myself nor Lambad can match your prowess when it comes to this dish."

He took the box from her tiny hands, basking in the aroma of the seasoned rice as it wafted around him. His gaze slid from the food to the small god who stood with that immortal grace in front of him, waiting patiently for a reaction. It was strange, he thought, how easily she put up with him. By now, any normal person would have given up on giving him gifts entirely, what with his unpleasant reactions. But Nahida... She never gave up. Not on him. And probably never would.

So he smiled at her. "Thank you, Buer." For everything.

Her eyes lit up at his words. A positive response at last. She dipped her head. "You're most welcome." She stretched out her hand again. "Shall we return to our studies?"

He held back his groan at the thought of studying again. He would get through it, just as everyone else did. In the end, it was only a small irritating matter that would resolve with a little amount of effort.

Nahida's hand remained outstretched, waiting, beckoning. He stared at it for a moment longer. And it began to lower, as if the Lesser Lord had realised he didn't want to hold it. But this time... He grabbed her hand before the offer was gone. This time... maybe holding her hand wasn't a bad idea. He'd let himself pretend she had motherly authority over him. Just this once. Her smile grew as her grip tightened around his pale fingers and they began the walk back to the Akademiya.

"So... Hat Guy—uh, I mean—"

"It's fine." Nahida's eyes widened slightly at that and he looked down at her, the box of steaming Unagi Chazuke still clutched tightly in his other hand. "I don't mind." I don't mind being called that. Not anymore. His lips curved. It's my name, after all.

He knew she could read those unspoken thoughts, things he didn't dare say out loud. Was doing so right this very moment. And she beamed back at him. "Did you find what you were looking for, then?"

His gaze lifted to the sky, clear and bright beyond the treeline. Perhaps one day, his thoughts would be the same. "Yes. Yes, I did."

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A/N: I know this is a oneshots book and as such the chapters aren't actually meant to be related but I don't care so uh, live with it :P

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Completed: 11-10-23
Published: 23-10-23
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Fanart credits: https://www.instagram.com/p/Clu_yervSfs/?img_index=2